Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park () is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and expanded significantly in 1999. Together with the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park, the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park and those parts of Elbe estuary which are not nature reserves, it forms the German part of the Wadden Sea.

The national park extends from the German-Danish maritime border in the north down to the Elbe estuary in the south. In the North Frisian area, it includes the mudflats around the geest-based and marsh islands and the Halligen (undyked islands). There, the mudflats are 40 km wide in places. Further south lie areas of mudflats which contain particularly large sandbanks. In addition to the plants and animals that are typical of the entire Wadden Sea, especially large numbers of porpoise, shelduck and eelgrass may be seen in the Schleswig-Holstein part.

With an area of 4410 km ² it is by far the largest national park in Germany. Some 68% of its area is permanently under water and 30% is periodically dry. The land element consists mainly of salt marshes. Since 1990, the national park, including the North Frisian Halligen, has been designated as a UNESCO recognised biosphere. Together with other German and Dutch Wadden Sea areas it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 26 June 2009 because of its relatively undisturbed intertidal ecosystem and its unique biodiversity.

Geography

National park area

thumb|upright|Map of the national park with designated protected zones

The national park covers an area from the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein by the Danish border in the north to the Elbe estuary in the south. In the northern area (roughly as far as Amrum), the national park boundary extends to the twelve mile territorial limit; to the south it reaches to about the three mile line. On the land side it runs in the sea 150 metres off the coast. Sea dykes and the foreland immediately in front of the dykes are not part of the national park; beaches are thus largely excluded from the protected zone. Also excluded from the national park are the inhabited areas in the sea, including the five German North Frisian Islands and the larger Halligen islands of Langeness, Hooge, Gröde, Oland and Nordstrandischmoor. Part of the park comprises uninhabited islands, islets and Halligen, such as Trischen, Blauort or the North Frisian Barrier Island. Under the classification of the natural regions of Germany the national park area belongs to the "Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea, Islands and Halligen" region within the Schleswig-Holstein Marshes, and to the major unit of the German Bight.

The national park can be divided into two areas. In the north, between the Danish border and the peninsula of Eiderstedt is the North Frisian part; on the south coast of Eiderstedt up to the Elbe estuary is the Dithmarschen part. The North Frisian Wadden Sea, together with the Danish Wadden Sea, belongs to the North Sea. It is screened from the open sea by the North Frisian Islands and the Halligen. The islands were mainly formed from elements of the mainland, which became separated, mainly as a result of flood disasters. The mudflats are protected and the transition between the flats and the sea is often clearer, because the former lie to the east of the large islands and the latter to the west of them. There are no major river estuaries and the tidal range is relatively low at less than two metres. In the northern Wadden Sea there are still geest cliffs formed in the ice ages, so that the highest elevations occur here on the coast in an otherwise very flat area. The Dithmarschen part and the south coast between the Elbe and Eider estuaries form the central part of the Wadden Sea. A tidal range of over three metres has largely prevented the formation of islands. Some sandbars emerge from the sea, but only Trischen is high enough and safe enough from storm surges, to allow saltwater-loving vegetation to grow. Compared to the geologically similar East Frisian Islands of the southern Wadden Sea, Trischen is considerably smaller and younger. All attempts by human inhabitants to fortify the island have failed. With several large estuaries the salinity in the central Wadden Sea is lower than in the rest of the Wadden Sea and is subject to higher fluctuations.

Protection areas of the National Park

The national park divides into two zones that correspond to different levels of protection. Zone 1 has a size of 162.000 ha and covers a third of the whole national park. The zone consists of 12 bigger units which all contain marshland, intertidal estuarine mudflat, mixed sediment mudflat, sand flat, tidal creeks as well as deep and flat areas that are permanently under water (sublittoral). Additionally there are smaller units around sensible places like breeding areas of coastal birds, sandbars of seals, places where migratory birds moult or geomorphological meaningful areas with natural surface structure. Zone 1 is principally closed for the public. Exceptions are made for the mudflat areas directly bordering the coastline, some routes for guided mudflat hiking tours and fishery. South of the Hindenburgdamm, facing the landside of Sylt, a human use of the first zone is completely prohibited (Zero use zone). This part is 12.500 ha big, whereof 3500 ha are permanently covered with water.

Zone 2 forms a ‘buffer’ around the first zone, in which a sustainable use is possible. In protection zone 2 west of Sylt´s coast locates a protection area for small whales, e.g. the common porpoise, with a size of 124.000 ha. It is an important reproduction area of the porpoise, whose population declined about 90 per cent in the North Sea during the 20th century. Activities like swimming, sailing or traditional crab fishing are still allowed in the area, while international industry fishing, jet-skis, ship velocities over 12 knots, military activities and resource exploitation (sand, grit, gas, oil) should be prevented.

Land, sea and mudflats

thumb|217x217px|Sunset in the Wadden Sea

The North Sea coast is very flat; in places the ocean floor only descends a few centimetres per kilometre. Twice a day the high tide carries sand, clay and silt into the Wadden Sea. The tidal range in Schleswig-Holstein´s part of the Wadden Sea accounts for between 1.5 m and 3.7 m, increasing from north to south. The lowest tidal ranges occur on Sylt's north coast, the highest in southern Dithmarschen. Everywhere in the Wadden Sea the amount of time the water needs to stream in is only 85% of the time it needs to run off again. Therefore the current of the water coming in, is much stronger and the low tide does not have the power to remove the sediments the high tide accumulated.

Over 2/3 of the national park are covered with water permanently (sublittoral), 30% of mudflat that is lying dry during low tide and gets flooded with water during high tide (eulittoral). The rest is land area that only gets flooded under certain conditions (supralittoral). The water areas contain the offshore part of the park as well as huge tidal currents like the Lister Tief, the Heverstrom, the Purrenstrom, the Wesselburener Loch or the Piep. Outside the mudflat area runs a constantly strong current from south to north, coming from the southern North Sea and going on to the Norwegian Trench. Owing to the river mouths of several big European waters (like the Rhine or Elbe), the current´s salinity of 20–30 psu lies below that of the ocean, and above that of the river mouths.

Flora and fauna

thumb|Rockworm piles in the Wadden Sea

Saltwater, tide and strong winds characterize the environment in the Wadden Sea area. Only extremely specialized organisms can cope with the conditions. Fishes, breeding birds and most of the marine mammals living in the Wadden Sea use it as nursery. Besides that, giant flocks of migratory birds visit the Wadden Sea regularly in spring and fall using it as a food source. In the Wadden Sea of Schleswig-Holstein you can find about 700 plant and 2500 animal species, of which 10% are endemic. Eelgrass areas provide habitats for marine organisms and are an important food source for barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis).

thumb|Salt marshes make up the biggest part of the National Park's vegetation.

Salt marshes are the dominant landscape in the transition zone between open sea and inland. They are regularly flooded between 10 and 250 times a year depending on the tidal range. Salt marshes build different zones relative to the local salinity. The lower marsh zone which is flooded the most has a higher salinity than the upper marsh zone which is less frequently flooded because of the higher elevation. In total about 50 species of flowering plants can be found in the local salt marshes. In low elevation areas plants like common salt marsh grass (Puccinellia maritima), sea-aster (Hordeum marinum), sea-blite (Sueda maritima) and sea-purslane (Halimione portulacoides) are characteristic. High elevation areas are a lot more diverse in plant species. Common plants are seaside centaury (Centaurium littorale), red eyebright (Odontites rubra), see plantain (Plantago maritima) and distant sedge (Carex distans).

In the dunes small amounts of plants can be found; due to the extreme conditions only some dune heaths grow there. The rain-laden dune valleys resemble the vegetation of a marsh, with plants like cotton grass (Eriophorum angustifolium), drosera or marsh gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe). The National Park Administration assumed that one third of the harbour seal population was swimming or hunting during the counting so the number had to be adjusted. The grey seal population consists of 140 animals and is mainly located on the "Jungnamensand" sand bar and the "Knobsand" sand bars near the island Amrum.

Insects

The Wadden Sea only has a few places where insects are found. Nearly all of the 2000 highly specialized species which are known to live in the national park can be found in salt marshes. Due to the difficult environmental conditions (for example salinity or frequent flooding), it is hard to survive for insects, especially in the larval state. The main survival strategy is hiding in the soil or inside plants. As nutrition they prefer parts of the plants that have already released the saltwater. Relatively well-known examples are the "Halligflieder-Spitzmaus-Rüsselkäfer" or the "Strandwegerichgallrüsselkäfer" (Mecinus collaris) that live in the particular plant. In contrast the magnificent salt beetle (Bledius spectabilis) digs a tube in the mudflat.

Sea lavender serves the caterpillar of the seldom seen Salzwiesen-Kleinspanner (Scopula emutaria) as nutrition. Its existence can only be proven in the coastal area of Sylt and Amrum.

Birds

thumb|123x123px|Barnacle geese

The avifauna of the national park is comparable with avifaunae of other Wadden Sea regions. With over 10 million birds in spring and autumn the trilateral Wadden Sea accommodates the most birds in Europe.

thumb|125x125px|Arctic tern

The reason why the stocks are decreasing is unknown. It is presumed that trawling damages the food source of the birds permanently. Species which are mainly living inland seem to have advantage over species which mostly live in salt marshes. They prefer dyked areas, which are cut off from salt water intrusion (polders), so the fresh water environment is dominating. Examples for newly-dyked polders in Schleswig-Holstein are Beltringharder Koog, Hauke-Haien-Koog, Speicherkoog, Rickelsbüller Koog. Since 2000, breeding eagle pairs settled permanently in the Wadden Sea area.

thumb|124x124px|Redshank

The population of the northwest-European common shelduck, which numbers 180,000 birds, spends the time of moulting between July and September in the Wadden Sea, mainly around the protected island of Trischen. There gathers over 80% of the northwest-European population. This phenomenon of a "mass moulting" is unique in the world.

During the development of the conservation areas, protecting biotopes became more and more important. In the 1960s, plans were first made for conserving the entire area of the Wadden Sea. In 1963 the Wadden Sea Conservation Station demanded a "Großschutzgebiet Halligmeer" (protection of the area around the small undyked islands off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein). The local hunting association firstly proposed the term national park in relation to the Wadden Sea in 1972, two years after the establishment of the Bavarian Forest National Park. In 1973 the ministry of agriculture proposed a bill which was withdrawn the following year because of strong resistance by locals. In 1975, a first scientific conference about the conservation of the Wadden Sea and in 1978, a first trilateral intergovernmental conference with participants form Germany, Netherlands and Denmark took place. In 1982 a joint declaration on the protection of the Wadden Sea was signed in Den Haag by the three states. It was not until 1985 that the Wadden Sea was declared a national park due to political tensions within the local population which are caused by a strong traditional desire for freedom by Frisian people. In 1999, the Wadden Sea National Park was further extended, again accompanied by political protests. The distinction as a National Park led to protesters throwing eggs at the responsible minister and a shrimp boat demonstration in the Kieler Förde.

In 1986, the Lower Saxony, and in 1990 the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park were founded. The Wadden Sea areas in the Netherlands and in Denmark are protected by other conservation measures. The Danish Wadden Sea was declared a national park in 2010.

The national park law says:

thumb|217x217px|Old signs of protest against the National Park

<blockquote>„Die Errichtung des Nationalparks dient dem Schutz des schleswig-holsteinischen Wattenmeeres und der Bewahrung seiner besonderen Eigenart, Schönheit und Ursprünglichkeit. Seine artenreiche Pflanzen- und Tierwelt ist zu erhalten und der möglichst ungestörte Ablauf der Naturvorgänge zu sichern. Jegliche Nutzungsinteressen sind mit dem Schutzzweck im Allgemeinen und im Einzelfall gerecht abzuwägen.“</blockquote>The main point of the law is that the formation of the national park should protect the animals and plants within it, but also the natural processes taking place there. Any utilization of the area is to be weighed against the aim of nature conservation.

Local people who were living near the coast and were affected by the national park law felt overlooked by the government. In their mind the Wadden Sea was formed by their ancestors over centuries which somehow led to an attitude of desiring unconditional freedom and autonomy. The National Park Wadden Sea being governed by the "far away city" Kiel felt like heteronomy by politicians who have no relation to local agriculture, fisheries and had never experienced the danger of storm surges.

On the other hand, the political opposition and local nature conservation organizations were skeptical as well. They thought that the restrictions and conservation measures coming with the national park law were insufficient. They also feared the increasing masses of tourists which the distinctive national park could incur. In 1998, the cabinet of Schleswig-Holstein began to discuss proposals for the second national park law. In December 1999, it became effective.

The synthesis report provided suggestions for expanding the area classified as national park up to 349,000 ha compared to the original 237,000 ha. It also proposed to declare the "Lister Tief" and the "Wesselburener Loch" a zero use zone. Crafters in the Dithmarscher Wadden Sea during the moult of common shelducks from July to September were prohibited.

The suggestions of the synthesis report caused a great wave of political responses. Especially, North Frisian people led by the head of district administrator Olaf Bastian (CDU) were dedicated enemies of an expanding national park. Not only North Frisian people protested against the synthesis report respectively the second National Park Law but other protest movements developed among the people living at the west coast too. In Büsum 1000 people, including many local shepherds working at the dykes and shrimp fishermen, protested because they felt limited in their freedom and negatively affected in their income. On 26 August 1999, 143 shrimp fishermen travelled with their boats through the Kiel Canal to the city of Kiel to protest against the second national park law during its declaration in front of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag. During an event in Tönning, locals threw eggs at the Secretary of environment, Rainder Steenblock.

The protests were mainly about the number and size of the zero use zones in which fishing wouldn't be allowed, and about the landside border of the park. It should, instead of the 150 m band, now border the outer edge of the dykes which includes a lot of salt marshes and especially swimming places. The coastal border stayed the same, 150 m from the dyke. A zero use zone was created south of the Hindenburgdamm instead of the originally proposed zero use zones "Lister Tief" and "Wesselburener Loch", which would have been ecologically more valuable. Since 1 January 2008 the National Park Administration is integrated in the newly founded Agency of Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation of Schleswig-Holstein as Department 3: National Park and Marine Conservation. The main reason to unite coastal defence and nature conservation in one agency is to provide a better coordination for overlapping responsibilities of these two departments. Head of Department 3: National Park and Marine Conservation is Dr. Detlef Hansen.

thumb|218x218px|A part of the National Park administration's work is to inform the public.

Although the national park only covers the area of Dithmarschen and North Frisia and borders 69 local communities the state administration of Schleswig-Holstein is responsible for the national park. The state administration justifies its responsibility with high efficiency, standardised administration processes and the minimisation of special local interests. Besides that the biggest part of the national park area is classified as unincorporated area. The local communities have no right for administration in these areas. The administrative districts North Frisia and Dithmarschen and the local communities are members of the boards of trustees which are instruments to pool statements and influence on the national park.

The National Park Administration employs 85 people, to some extent in part-time jobs. It has a budget of seven million euros per year. With integrating the National Park administration in the Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation the "Nationalpark Service" got integrated in the National Park administration, so only one administration office is in charge of every area of responsibility concerning the National Park.

The National Park Administration tries to solve conflicts and work more efficient by making agreements with user groups to manage the details of the Park´s utilization. They negotiate treaties with fishermen, the guides for mudflat tours, the operators of excursion boats, but as well with communities like Sankt Peter-Ording, Westerhever or the Hamburger Hallig. The area is designated for the purpose of the Bird directive of the European Union (79/409/EWG) as well as the for the purpose of the Habitats Directive and therefore a part of the European Natura 2000 nature protection network. As a part of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive the ecological status of the Wadden Sea has to be protected and improved. In the purpose of the Waterframework directive the national park is partly assigned to the Flussgebietseinheit (FGE) Eider, a so called "unit of the river basin Eider", and partly to the FGE Elbe. The adjacent Wadden Sea of Hamburg received the Status in 2011, the National Park Vadehavet in Denmark in 2014.

Human utilisation of the National Park

thumb|Two people are living on the Hallig Südfall during summer. Only five people are living inside the National Park, but the bordering communities contain 290.000 inhabitants. Additionally there are about 15 million tourists visiting the National Park every year.

The national park has 70 neighbouring communities in Schleswig-Holstein with 290.000 people living there. Additionally approximately 15 Million people visit the national park every year. The area of the Wadden Sea National Park is harnessed by tourism, fishery, oil production, coastal defence, grazing, maritime traffic and air traffic, withdrawal of gravel and sand, mussel cultivation and sometimes used for military weapon testing. Most of the utilisation is located directly near or at the coast, so the seaward area is more or less unaffected by human influences. Since 1987 utilisations, which hardly affect the ecosystem Wadden Sea at all, are allowed again by law. Such utilisations are e.g. collecting small amounts of plants for science or education.

Besides being highly approved by tourists, the surveys suggest that locals have high rates of consent for the Wadden Sea National Park as well. According to the SÖM report 2017 about 85% of the population of Dithmarschen and North Frisia would vote for a continuation of the national park. Since 2009 the approval rates haven’t gone below 80%. 10% of the samples would vote for a continuation under certain circumstances. Only 2% would vote against a continuation of the Wadden Sea National Park. Locals, who would have voted against the national park, fear further limitations for example in fishery, aquatic sports and accessibility of the conservation area. Women and young adults evaluate it more positively than men and elder persons.

It is hard to quantify the effects of the communication and education efforts of the National Park Administration with the locals. The administration has trouble in limiting the agriculture in the national park area, mainly because there hasn't been much agriculture in the first place before the Wadden Sea National Park was founded. Also, even 32 years after the creation of the national park, only 14% of the local people actually know that the Wadden Sea area which they are living adjacent to has the conservation status of a national park. The goal is reached by positive backlash on tourism and reputation of the region. The location of the Wadden Sea National Park is a traditionally popular destination for German tourists. The official statistics show that 1.5 million holidaymakers generate 8.4 million overnight stays in the adjacent coastal area, islands and Hallig islands.

National Park tourism

thumb|193x193px|Multimar Wattforum is the most important information center of the National Park with about 200.000 visitors per year.

It is unknown to which degree the status of the national park increased the number of tourists in the North Sea region. Compared to administrative districts which are not located adjacent to the national park region, the increasing rate of tourists in administrative districts adjacent to the Wadden Sea National Park is not significantly higher.

However in 2014 17% of the people making a vacation in the North Sea area decided to go there because of the national park, suggests the SÖM report. These tourists generate a net product of 89 Million euros which is the income equivalent of 4741 people. As a part of the INTERREG IV B-project PROWAD another survey was made asking people to which degree the status of a national park influenced their decision during vacation planning to travel to the North Sea region. About 44% answered that they think the conservation of the Wadden Sea was a "very important" or an "important" factor for choosing their vacation destination. Since then local touristic businesses can apply for a National Park Partnership. The idea behind the project is that tourists who plan a vacation in the North Sea region get a package made of quality service, practised "regionality" and ecological awareness. They also support sustainable touristic development in the National Park region. The project promotes cooperation between local communities, nature conservation associations and the National Park Administration. The central panel of the National Park Partner Project is the "Vergaberat" deciding over which applicant gets accepted and may enter the National Park Partner Network. The "Vergaberat" consists of the representatives from the Island and Hallig Island conference (Insel- und Halligkonferenz), nature conservation associations, National Park Partners, the Nordsee-Tourismus-Service GmbH and the National Park Administration. For having a comprehensive quality standard the committee developed a harmonised catalogue of criteria for National Park Partners.

Fishery, hunting and agriculture

thumb|Traditional shrimp boats

The coexistence of the national park and fishery has conflict potential. While only being a small part of the national product of the west coast (ca. 1%), fishery is highly important for tourism. Tourists expect a maritime flare when having a vacation at the North Sea coast. Shrimp fishery has the biggest economic importance as a part of fishery in the North Sea region because fishing common shrimps (Crangon crangon) is not limited by catch quota. On the other hand Atlantic cod, European plaice and common sole are hardly fished at all due to strict catch quota and other protection measures.

Agriculture has a higher economic importance for the North Sea coast. But most of the land used for agriculture is located outside the national park. Only grazing of saltmarshes by sheep happens inside the park and has conflict potential to some extent.

Shrimp fishery

Shrimpers support the characteristic image of the North Sea region of Schleswig-Holstein as it counts as traditional fishery. Not until 1900 shrimp boats were used for catching shrimps, prior to which a Gliep net was the standard fishing method. The shrimper stock in Schleswig-Holstein declined over the years: in 1999 about 144 shrimp boats were fishing in the North Sea. In 2016 the stock has dropped to half. Small family businesses are affected the most. Against the odds the number of big industrial shrimp boats in the North Sea region is increasing.

Mussel fishery

Common blue mussels are cultivated in an area with an extension of 1.700 ha in the North Sea area. Seeds (young mussels) for cultivation can be extracted from natural spat falls and "seed collectors". Catching common blue mussels outside cultivated areas is strictly forbidden. The cultivation of common mussels in the conservation zone 2 of the national park is limited to an area of 13 ha. Since 1997 areas that dry out during low tide are closed for mussel cultivation as well. In total only 8 common mussel cultivation areas in the national park region are allowed by law.

Catching common cockle and common razor shells is prohibited since 1990. Even before the prohibition, it was economically unimportant due to natural stock decreases in Schleswig-Holstein during hard winter seasons. Pacific oyster (Magallan gigas) cultivations are limited to a 30 ha big area near Sylt. These oysters are kept in heated ponds during winter. About 1 million oysters are harvested and sold on Sylt annually; approximately one third is eaten local. The Pacific oyster has widely spread in the Wadden Sea during the last years. The former blue mussel beds evolved into oyssel reefs. Attempts to catch the thick trough shell (Spisula solida) were successful in the beginning of the 1990s. During the hard winter in 1995/96 all the shells fell victim to the unusual cold weather. Since the end of 2016 thick trough shell fishery is prohibited in the national park.

Aquaculture and hunting

An experimental station for marine aquaculture is located in Büsum. The plants water supply with North Sea water comes through a pipeline which begins in the national park. While hunting in the national park area is prohibited since 1999, some hunters are still active on the Hallig Islands which are surrounded by national park conservation zones. With a total area of 12.450 ha (2006), 47% of the salt marshes were not grazed at all, 11% were grazed extensively and 38% were grazed intensively.

Because of being completely surrounded by the national park area, the supply chain of the islands and Hallig islands goes through the national park inevitably. Besides the supply transported by ships, other essentials like energy, data or water pipes lead through the national park as well. Also civic air traffic is passing over the national park area.

Wind energy in Schleswig-Holstein is only won by onshore wind parks, which are built in the coastal region bordering the national park. First economical important offshore wind farms are planned seawards outside the national park. The sea cable connection from the offshore wind farms to land might cause some disturbances while being built.

While it is generally forbidden to extract resources for commercial use from the national park, an exception is being made for coastal defence purposes. 1.1 Million Cubic meters are extracted every year for example for beach replenishment at the west coast of Sylt, for renewing the Hallig islands or to restore dikes. Additionally military training flights are located within the national park area regularly. The aircraft aren’t allowed to come below a flying altitude of 900 m.

See also

  • Wadden Sea National Parks
  • Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park
  • Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park

Literature

  • Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) (Hrsg.): Nomination of the Dutch-German Wadden Sea as World Heritage Site. 2008 als PDF
  • Landesamt für den Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer (Hrsg.): Wattenmeermonitoring 2000 – Schriftenreihe des Nationalparks Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer, Sonderheft, Tönning 2001
  • Landesamt für den Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer (Hrsg.): SÖM-Bericht 2008 als pdf
  • Landesamt für den Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer / Landesamt für den Nationalpark Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer / Umweltbundesamt (Hrsg.): Umweltatlas Wattenmeer. Bd. 1 (Nordfriesisches und Dithmarscher Wattenmeer), Verlag Ulmer, Stuttgart,
  • Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Umweltschutz und Ländliche Räume des Landes Schleswig-Holstein (MLUL) (Hrsg.): Bericht zur Überprüfung des Biosphärenreservats Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer und Halligen durch die UNESCO. Berichtszeitraum 1990 bis 2005. Juni 2005 als pdf
  • Dirk Legler: Die Organisation deutscher Nationalparkverwaltungen. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2006,
  • Martin Stock et al.: Salzwiesen an der Westküste von Schleswig-Holstein 1986–2001. Boyens Buchverlag, Heide 2005,

Filmography

  • Im Nationalpark Wattenmeer. Documentary, 45 min., Germany, 1998, by Jens-Uwe Heins and Michael Sutor, Production: Komplett-Media-GmbH, Grünwald (), Brief description by the ARD
  • Wadden Sea : UNESCO Official Website
  • Wadden Sea Conservation Station

References